money3.0 and the economy of small – Micropayments

The next big thing in big business may be incredibly, inconceivably small…

Why Smaller Amounts is the next Big Thing in the world of Payments.

In case you haven’t read chief editor of Wired’s Chris Andersen’s “The Long Tail”, do so.  Check out the Business Book Review, ask me for the podcasts, CDs or just take my word for it.

Either way, much of this is predicated on ideas in that book, Wikinomics, Freakonomics, Naked Conversations, The 10 Faces of Innovation, Innovate or Die!, The World is Flat, The Wisdom of Crowds, The Global Paradox, The Death of Money, China, Inc, Capitalist China, Asian Megatrends, The Extreme Future, The Search, Business at the Speed of Thought, Bad Money, Love is the Killer App and web2.0 concepts.

The gist of it for you that are already familiar with the tenets of Long Tail economics, is that 98% of markets are underserved by traditional mainstream products and services.  The Pareto Principle that ruled so much of the Industrial Revolution is being supplanted by a new set of “rules”.  The much revered 80/20 “rule” is in fact, not an economic law after all, but a scarcity-based guideline from a bygone era.  In an age of abundance, especially of the digital sort, there seems to be almost infinite demand for even the most obscure supply.

Perhaps most interestingly, the sum of these increasing niches is substantially larger than the sum of the hits. This creates tremendous opportunities for those poised to enable that economy -- The economy of small.